The first world championship in wrestling was held in Vienna in 1904, with Greco-Roman being the only discipline in the sport at that point. Freestyle wrestling -- the simple distinction with Greco-Roman being that you are allowed to hold your opponent below the waist -- had their first world championships held in Helsinki only in 1951.

A world championship for women's wrestling was only added in 1987 with Lorenskog, Norway hosting the first such event. And a combined championship only came into effect in 2005, with Budapest as the first host.

With this year's World Wrestling Championships about to get underway in Paris on Monday, here is a recollection of all of India's 11 medals on the big stage.

Yokohama, 1961

India opened their account at the world championships 56 years ago when Udey Chand won bronze in the men's freestyle 67kg category in Yokohama, Japan. Chand lost to Iran's Mohammad Ali Sanatkaran in the semi-final bout, but would go on to enjoy a distinguished career, winning silver medals in the 70kg weight class for both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1962 Asian Games, besides winning the Commonwealth Games gold in 1970. He was also wrestling's first Arjuna Awardee in 1961.

New Delhi, 1967

Bishambar Singh would become India's second medallist at the world championships, as also the first to win silver, when he made the final against Ali Aliyev of Soviet Union in the men's freestyle 57kg category in New Delhi -- the only time that India have hosted the event. It should have come as no surprise considering his form in the year leading into the tournament -- he won a Commonwealth Games gold in Kingston and an Asian Games bronze in Bangkok in the same weight category the year before.

Guangzhou, 2006

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India won a medal after a 39 year gap when Alka Tomar became the first women to bag a medal India, picking up bronze in the 59kg category at the 2006 tournament in Guangzhou, China. Tomar would later cap off a fine career with a Commonwealth Games gold against reigning Olympic and world championship bronze-medallist Tonya Verbeek of Canada in front of her home crowd in New Delhi in 2010.

Herning, 2009

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The first world championship medal outside Asia won by an Indian was by Ramesh Kumar, who picked up bronze in the men's freestyle 74kg category in Herning, Denmark in 2009 in thrilling fashion. Having lost to eventual runner-up Chamsulvara Chamsulvarayev of Azerbaijan in the semi-finals, Kumar came back from being 0-3 down after the first round against Alexandru Burca of Moldova in the bronze-medal bout to tie the bout 7-7 and win on basis of having picked up the last point.

Moscow, 2010

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India have won a combined total of 11 medals in world championship history, including two silvers and eight bronze medals, but the only gold across disciplines went to Sushil Kumar, when he defeated Russia's Alan Gogayev in the men's freestyle 66kg final at the 2010 edition in Moscow. This world championship gold was sandwiched between bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver at the 2012 London Olympics, making him India's only multiple Olympic medallist in an individual sport.

Canada, 2012

Only three women have won world championship medals for India -- all bronze medals -- and India's only two medallists in Strathcona County, Canada in 2012 were Geeta and Babita Phogat. Both wrestlers, medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games at home as well, lost to the eventual champions -- Geeta was beaten by Japan's Saori Yoshida in the 55kg quarter-finals, while Babita lost to Jessica MacDonald of Canada in the 51kg semis.

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Bajrang Punia could become India's first multiple medallist at the Wrestling World Championships in Paris, where Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik will also eye podium finishes.

Budapest, 2013

The world championships in Budapest remain India's most profitable return yet from the event -- three medals for the first and only time. 19-year-old Amit Kumar Dahiya set the ball rolling with India's first silver in 46 years in men's freestyle 55kg, while Bajrang Punia won bronze in the men's freestyle 60kg a day later.

Five days later Sandeep Tulsi Yadav made history with India's first Greco-Roman medal, when he beat Serbian Aleksandar Maksimovic 4-0 to pick up the bronze medal in the 66kg category.

Las Vegas, 2015

India last won a world championship medal two years ago -- their most recent outing in 2016 yielded none -- in Las Vegas through Narsingh Yadav in the men's freestyle 74 kg category. Yadav was drawn against Mongolia's Purevjavyn Onorbat in the semi-finals, and tied the bout 4-4, but lost on the countback and had to settle for bronze, one that had then qualified him for the 2016 Olympics.

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